Telepresence via wireless streaming multicast

Abstract

A method is disclosed which provides for multicasting video of an event, thereby allowing geographically dispersed members of a user's social network to experience a user's current locale, so that the user's friends may join him via live video at events (concerts, clubs, or other venues) which they cannot attend in person. The method includes the steps of enabling transmission of an invitation to at least one selected individual; processing an acceptance of the invitation; processing a live video signal of the event; storing the signal in a streaming database; and outputting a video stream in accordance with the acceptance. The outputting may be performed in real time. The processing of the live video signal may also include caching the video signal, so that the event may be viewed other than in real time.

I claim: 
     
       1. A method comprising:
 enabling transmission, via a network, of at least one invitation from a viewer device relating to a live video stream of an event to at least one receiving device associated with at least one selected individual; 
 receiving an acceptance of the at least one invitation from the receiving device, via the network, at at least one computing device, the acceptance comprising a signal representing rendering capabilities of the receiving device; 
 in response to the acceptance of the at least one invitation, processing the acceptance of the at least one invitation using the at least one computing device, said processing comprising determining rendering capability of the receiving device in accordance with said received signal for rendering media and enabling transmission by the viewer device, via a network, of a live video of the event at a bandwidth and in a format based on said rendering capability determination; 
 receiving the live video, via the network, at the at least one computing device; 
 processing the live video relating to the event received from said viewer device using the at least one computing device according to the bandwidth and format; and 
 outputting a video stream comprising the received and processed live video, via the network, to said receiving device of said selected individual, in accordance with the acceptance and said rendering determination. 
 
     
     
       2. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said processing of the live video further comprises caching the live video. 
     
     
       3. The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising storing the live video in a streaming database. 
     
     
       4. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said processing of the acceptance further comprises detecting additional capabilities of the receiving device of the individual, and said outputting is performed in accordance with said additional capabilities. 
     
     
       5. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the invitation includes information regarding one of a viewer and the event. 
     
     
       6. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said outputting is performed in real time. 
     
     
       7. The method according to  claim 2 , wherein said outputting is performed by transmitting a cached video stream. 
     
     
       8. The method according to  claim 1 , wherein said outputting further comprises adding advertising content to the video stream. 
     
     
       9. The method according to  claim 8 , further comprising retrieving the advertising content from an advertising database. 
     
     
       10. The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the advertising content is selected in accordance with information regarding the event. 
     
     
       11. The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the advertising content is selected in accordance with information regarding a viewer or the selected individual. 
     
     
       12. The method according to  claim 11 , further comprising retrieving said information regarding the viewer or the selected individual from a user database. 
     
     
       13. A system comprising:
 a first server for enabling transmission of at least one invitation from a viewer device to at least one receiving device of at least one selected individual and for processing an acceptance of the at least one invitation from the receiving device comprising a signal representing rendering capabilities of the receiving device, the first server is further configured to determine rendering capability of the receiving device in accordance with said received signal and enable the viewer device to transmit a live video of an event upon processing of said acceptance of the at least one invitation at a bandwidth and in a format based on the rendering capability determination; 
 a second server for processing a live video of the event according to the bandwidth and the format; and 
 a third server for outputting a video stream comprising the processed live video to the receiving device of the selected individual in accordance with the acceptance. 
 
     
     
       14. The system according to  claim 13 , wherein said second server caches the live video. 
     
     
       15. The system according to  claim 13 , further comprising a streaming database, and wherein said second server is configured to store the live video on the streaming database. 
     
     
       16. The system according to  claim 13 , wherein said first server is configured to detect additional capabilities of the receiving device of the selected individual and to transmit information regarding said additional capabilities to said third server. 
     
     
       17. The system according to  claim 16 , wherein said third server performs said outputting in accordance with said additional capabilities. 
     
     
       18. The system according to  claim 13 , wherein the invitation includes information regarding the event. 
     
     
       19. The system according to  claim 13 , wherein said third server performs said outputting in real time. 
     
     
       20. The system according to  claim 14 , wherein said third server performs said outputting by transmitting a cached video stream. 
     
     
       21. The system according to  claim 13 , wherein said third server is configured to add advertising content to the video stream. 
     
     
       22. The system according to  claim 21 , further comprising an advertising database including the advertising content. 
     
     
       23. The system according to  claim 21 , wherein said third server is configured to select the advertising content in accordance with information regarding the event. 
     
     
       24. The system according to  claim 21 , wherein the advertising content is selected in accordance with information regarding the viewer or the selected individual. 
     
     
       25. The system according to  claim 24 , further comprising a user database including said information regarding the viewer or the selected individual. 
     
     
       26. The system according to  claim 13 , wherein said second server accepts the live video from the viewer over a wireless data network. 
     
     
       27. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium tangibly encoded with a computer program product comprising instructions, that when executed by a processor of a computing device, performs a method comprising:
 enabling transmission, via a network, of at least one invitation from a viewer device relating to a live video stream of an event to at least one selected individual; 
 receiving from the receiving device an acceptance of the at least one invitation, via the network, at at least one computing device, the acceptance comprising a signal representing rendering capabilities of the receiving device; 
 in response to the acceptance of the at least one invitation, processing the acceptance of the at least one invitation using the at least one computing device, said processing comprising determining rendering capability of the receiving device in accordance with said received signal for rendering media and enabling transmission, by the viewer device via a network, of a live video of the event at a bandwidth and in a format based on said rendering capability determination; 
 receiving the live video, via the network, at the at least one computing device; 
 processing the live video relating to the event received from said viewer device using the at least one computing device according to the bandwidth and the format; and 
 outputting a video stream comprising the processed live video, via the network, to said receiving device of said selected individual, in accordance with the acceptance and said rendering determination. 
 
     
     
       28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 27 , further comprising instructions for caching the live video. 
     
     
       29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 27 , further comprising instructions for storing the live video in a streaming database. 
     
     
       30. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to  claim 27 , further comprising instructions for adding advertising content to the outputted video stream.